DeCure's autonomous Rare AI scientist is researching a drug-repurposing hypothesis for dysentery — screening already-approved drugs against its 3-gene Open Targets disease module to publish open-access research. Research is fast; the path to publication is funded in milestone stages.
Disease moduleDysentery maps to a 3-gene Open Targets module — the target space DeCure's AI scientist screens approved drugs against.
DeCure.ai methodSignature reversal (LINCS) plus network proximity (STRING) rank already-approved drugs likely to perturb this module — the same engine that produces DeCure.ai's repurposing hypotheses.
Repurposing thesisScreening approved medicines against this disease module, then publishing the evidence for the strongest candidate. Known pharmacology and human exposure data make the first question sharper — they do not establish safety or efficacy in a new indication.
Research record
01
ResearchComing soon
Candidate research + dossier — target rationale, drug-repurposing thesis and evidence pack.proof: Published dossier + on-chain hash
02
ValidationComing soon
In-vitro biological validation at a contract research org (CRO).proof: CRO contract + in-vitro report
03
Peer review & paperComing soon
Peer-reviewed paper published open-access (preprint + journal).proof: DOI + open-access link + on-chain hash
Current lead
No approved-drug candidate for dysentery is corroborated in the literature DeepSearch retrieved. Some conditions are managed with non-pharmacological care — a device, surgery or physical therapy — rather than a medicine; that may be the case here, or the literature we found may simply be too sparse yet to support a drug-repurposing angle.
Molecular view
aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AHR) — AHR is one of the genes genetically linked to this disease in Open Targets — shown as context, not as a drug target we're pursuing: no approved-drug candidate for this disease is yet corroborated in the literature we found.
Loading structure…
helix sheet adpdrag to rotate · scroll to zoom
RCSB Protein Data Bank · entry 7ZUB · 2.85 Å · ligand ADENOSINE-5'-DIPHOSPHATE (ADP). Experimental structure, not a prediction.
What the evidence adds up to
In a 1978 review, invasive Escherichia coli strains were described that cause a disease in humans resembling bacillary dysentery. These strains share the ability to invade the epithelial cells of the colon. Mutants of virulent strains that fail to penetrate epithelial cells also fail to cause disease and behave differently than non-pathogenic E. coli in animal models. The paper states that present evidence indicates this invasion is one critical factor in these infections.
A 1930 report on chronic bacillary dysentery described cases lasting from one month to ten years. B. dysenteriae was recovered from 56 cases. Good results were reported from colon lavage with Dakin's solution. Six cases treated surgically were also reported and discussed. A 1940 paper by Coleman concerned only the differentiation and identification of bacillary incitants of dysentery and offered no treatment data.
A 1997 letter noted that in a study of health professionals in Bangladesh, less than half chose the correct treatment for dysentery as recommended by the WHO. Metronidazole was chosen by 10.9–25.6% of doctors and by 36.8–47.3% of drug dispensers. Similar inappropriate prescribing of antiamoebic drugs was reported in Pakistan. The letter describes these prescribing practices as worrying and inappropriate.
In a 1956 trial, erythromycin was given to ten cases of acute amebic dysentery at 1.2 g daily for 10 days, and to another group at the same dose for 5 days. Marked improvement appeared in both groups, but two cases relapsed in the 5-day group while none relapsed in the 10-day group. The follow-up was not complete, continuing for an average of only 3 months. The authors suggested further trials with a longer observation period. A 1927 paper discussed vaccine therapy for dysentery and hemorrhagic colitis with oral vaccine administration, but provided no quantitative results.
Evidence
Retrieved by DeepSearch across 234,678,978 indexed works and resolved on OpenAlex — ranked by citations, including the results that did not work.
Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association · 1978 · 14 citations
Invasive Escherichia coli
Abstractease in human beings which resembles bacillary dysentery. A common characteristic of these strains is their ability to invade the epithelial cells of the colon. Mutants of virulent strains producing dysentery-like disease which fail to penetrate epithelial cells also fail to cause disease and behave differently than nonpathogenic E. coli in animal models [1]. Thus, present evidence indicates that one critical factor in these infections
Transactions of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene · 1930 · 7 citations
The diagnosis and treatment of chronic dysentery
AbstractA series of cases of chronic bacillary dysentery is reported, the duration varying from one month to ten years. B. dysenteri˦ was recovered from 56 cases. The appearances found by sigmoidoscopy are described. In the treatment of chronic dysentery good results have been obtained from colon lavage with Dakin's solution. Six cases treated surgically are reported and discussed.
American Journal of Public Health and the Nations Health · 1940 · 5 citations · open access
The Differentiation and Identification of Bacillary Incitants of Dysentery
AbstractThe Differentiation and Identification of Bacillary Incitants of Dysentery Marion B. Coleman CopyRight*Read at a Joint Session of the Laboratory and Epidemiology Sections of the American Public Health Association at the Sixty-eighth Annual Meeting in Pittsburgh, Pa., October 17, 1939. https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.30.1.39 Published Online: October 03, 2011
AbstractEditor–Carine Ronsmans and colleagues' study of health professionals' knowledge of the treatment of dysentery in Bangladesh showed that less than half chose the correct treatment as recommended by the World Health Organisation in Bangladesh.1 Metronidazole was chosen by 10.9-25.6% of the doctors and by 36.8-47.3% of the drug dispensers. Similar and worrying inappropriate prescribing practices for antiamoebic drugs have been reported recently in Pakistan.2 In an editorial accompanying Ronsmans and colleagues' report Richard Cash points out that inappropriate prescribing and …
American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene · 1956 · 3 citations
Erythromycin in the Treatment of Amebiasis
AbstractSummaryErythromycin was found of value in the treatment of acute amebic dysentery. The drug was given to ten cases in a dose of 1.2 gm. daily for a period of 10 days and in a similar dose to another group for a period of 5 days. Marked improvement appeared in both groups, but two cases relapsed in the second group, while no relapses occurred in the first. The follow up is not complete however, as it was continued only for an average of 3 months. It is suggested that further trials be made, with a longer period of observation.
Kazan medical journal · 1927 · 0 citations · open access
Vaccine therapy for dysentery and hemorrhagic colitis with per os vaccine administration
AbstractThe concept of dysentery is essentially purely clinical. This name refers to acute hemorrhagic catarrh of the intestines with predominant involvement of the lowest segment of the latter and with the formation of ulcers in this area. Such a disease may have a variety of etiologies. The issue of etiology of dysentery and hemorrhagic colitis is not only of purely bacteriological interest, but also plays a prominent role in therapy of these diseases.
Disease module: DeepOracle (Open Targets). Structures: RDKit from PubChem SMILES. Literature: retrieved by DeepSearch across 234,678,978 indexed works (targeted per-candidate search), resolved on OpenAlex.
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